Gateway Cinephiles

3-Minute Intro: Bound

Screened: July 11, 2008
Format: DVD - Republic Pictures (2001)
Selected By: Erin G.

After Andy and Larry Wachowski had parlayed work in comics into a screenwriting gig with 1995’s Assassins, the brothers wrote Bound, a controversial noir feature that would ultimately springboard them to bigger things. However, at the time the brothers couldn’t convince a Hollywood studio to finance their film as they had conceived it: a violent, subversive thriller about a pair of female lovers. They turned to legendary Italian producer Dino DeLaurentis, who offered them $6 million and free reign to make the film they wanted. Never mind that Bound floundered at the box office in 1996. The film ignited film festival audiences, divided critics, and established a lasting cult reputation.

Partly due to the film’s lesbian content, the Wachowskis had some difficulty with casting. For the film’s leading roles of Violet and Corky, they eventually settled on Jennifer Tilly, then primarily known for an appearance in The Fabulous Baker Boys, and Gina Gershon, fresh from the success-cum-shame of a schlockfest called Showgirls. They also tapped Joe Pantoliano for what would become his first starring role. Bound’s crew worked within a tight budget, but demonstrated creative flexibility in delivering a distinctive neo-noir styling to the film’s look and sound. For assistance in writing and choreographing the sex scenes, the Wachowskis enlisted renowned feminist sex educator Susie Bright. Bright’s insight helped craft what is regarded as some of the finest lesbian eroticism ever portrayed in a mainstream film.

Which raises the question: Is Bound a queer film, or merely a titillating thriller with some queer trappings? The brothers contend that the film’s themes reflect homosexual concerns, but that their ambitions were broader, while Bright has argued that Bound is definitively lesbian in its character. To be sure, the film endures as a touchstone in gay cult cinema, as does Gershon’s reputation as a gay idol. Yet in some ways, the film’s graphic violence remains more shocking than its homosexual content. The Wachowskis have cited Billy Wilder and Frank Miller as primary influences, but some critics could only perceive a sadistic imitation of the Coen brothers or Quentin Tarantino. And yet it is Bound’s notoriety that has cemented its reputation as one of the most powerful debut films of the 1990s.